Machine for making tail nut-locks.



1 PATBNTED DEC. 11, 1906. A.-T. RICHARDSON. MACHINE FOR MAKING TAIL NUT LOOKS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21 1905.

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No. 838,276. PATENTBD DEG.11, 1906.

A. T. RICHARDSON.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TAIL NUT LOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21.1905.

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PATENTED DBO. 11, 1906.

A; T. RIOHARDSON. MACHINE FOR MAKING TAIL-NUT LOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.21,1905.

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ANDREW T. RICHARDSON, OF VERONA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO VERONA TOOL VORKS, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1 1, 1906.

Application filed November 21, 1905. Serial No. 288.341.

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that 1, ANDREW T. RICHARD- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Verona, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Tail Nut-Locks, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of helical spring-washers, and more particularly to machines for making that class of helical spring-washers having a portion of said washer tangential and known in the art as tail nut-locks, and it consists in the combination and arrangement of parts designed for a rapidity of output and simplicity of operation, the peculiar arrangement of elements eliminating many of the parts heretofore found necessary in kindred machines, as will be more fully set out in the specification.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this, specification and in which similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout, Figure 1 represents a plan view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of same. Fig. 3 is an end view. Fig. l is a vertical section through the line 4 4 in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view in the opposite direction through the line 5 5 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a detail view of the cam and strap which operate the feed ing mechanism.

Referring again to the drawings, the metal bar or blank 1 is fed directly from the furnace-mouth to the oscillating carriage 2 on the table 3, which is out of square with the shaft of the machine, so as to feed the said blank 1 at the desired pitch of the spiral in the finished washer. A flange 6 on the carriage 2 acts as a guide for the said blank 1.

The main bed 7 has the shaft 8, driven by the pulley 9 and suspended in suitable hangers 1O 10. A gear 11 on said shaft 8, meshes with a similar gear 12, mounted on a hollow shaft 13, supported in suitable bearings 14 14. A mandrel 15, attached to the end of a shaft 16, is free to oscillate within the said hollow shaft 13 when the cam 17 engages the lug 18, the end of which lug 18, sliding in the slot 19, prevents the shaft 16 from turning with the hollow shaft 13. A helical sprin 20 between the lug 18 and the bearing 21 retains the shaft 16 and the mandrel 15 in their normal position.

A roller 22, attached to the lug 23 on the hollow shaft 13, revolves around the mandrel 15 and concentric therewith. The said roller 22 is so proportioned that in its downward circular movement it will engage the blank 1 after it is fed diagonally over the mandrel; but it is short enough to clear the rearward portion of said blank on the upward movement of the roller.

A cam 24 on the hollow shaft 13 engages the strap 25, connected to the lever 26, pivoted at 27 and operating the aforesaid oseillating carriage 2. A pressure-finger 28, mounted on the carriage 2, is actuated by the roller 29 as it travels under and over the guide 30, attached to the table 3, to alternately engage blank 1 as carriage advances and release said blank before withdrawal of the carriage.

A shearing-knife 31, having the spring 32 to hold it in its normal position, is actuated by the cam 33 on shaft 8, engaging the roller 3 1 upon the extension 35 of said shear 31. A pressure-finger 36, attached to the shear 31 by the arm 37 and provided with the spring 38, acts to hold the blank 1 rigidly during the revolution of the forming-roller 22 around the mandrel.

The operation of my machine is as follows: The blank is fed hot from the furnace, which is preferably placed directly opposite the machine, directly upon the carriage 2, is gripped by the pressure-finger 28, and carried forward by the carriage 2 the required distance, which is the length of the blank required for a finished tail nut-lock. As above indicated, the blank is fed over the mandrel diagonally i. e., sufficiently out of square with the axis of the mandrel to correspond with the required pitch of the helix which the finished washer forms. This diagonal feed is an important part of my invention and has a twofold object: first, the giving of the desired pitch to the washer without the necessity of specially-formed mandrels with spiral-shaped sides, which are necessary to avoid, the liability of distortion to the forming helix by reason of the twisting of the blank; second, it permits the forming roller 22 to clear the rear end of the blank being formed and obviates the danger of interference from the completed washer which may from any reason-not have fallen before the return of roller 22, thus insuring an uninterrupted operation of the continuous process of manufacture. The blank having been fed in is gripped by the pressure-finger 36 and held rigid while the roller 22 revolves and bends the blank around the mandrel 15. The mandrel is then quickly withdrawn into the hollow shaft 13 by means of the cam 17, the knife 31 is brought down by means of the cam 33, and the finished tail nut-lock cut ofl and dropped into a suitable receptacle. The shear-knife 31 is placed not over the mandrel, as is usually done, but forward of the said mandrel, so that the tail of the said nut-lock is next to the shear instead of being on the end first entering the machine. The withdrawing mandrel is also an important feature of my improved machine, obviating the danger of the washer catching on the mandrel on completion by withdrawing the mandrel within the hollow shaft, where it is removed from all danger when its function is completed. The intermittent motion produced by the cam 24 and the strap 25 feeds the bar forward after the knife has 'cut off the completed washer in readiness for a renewal of the operation.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and. desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a machine for making tail nut-locks, the combination of means for automatically feeding a blank at predetermined intervals;

means for holding the blank rigid while being coiled; an oscillating mandrel; a coiler re- I .mittently-oscillating mandrel," means for coiling the blank, said means being revolved in a continuous circle concentric with the axis of the mandrel; and means for severing the finished product from the blank.

3. In a machine for making tail nut-locks,

in combination, an oscillating carriage hav ing a uniformly interrupted motion and having an automatically-gripping means for holding a blank while feeding same across a mandrel and at a pitch with said mandrel corresponding with the pitch of the helix to be formed; a mandrel oscillating intermittently; a forming-roller revolving around said mandrel concentrically to the axis of said mandrel; means for holding the blank while being coiled;and cutting-off means for severing the finished product.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW T. RICHARDSON. Witnesses:

W. A. DIAMOND, C. LUDLOW LIVINGSTON. 

